Brief Bio

Les Harmon came to nursing as a second career and has focused his work on treating and improving the quality of life for people living with HIV/AIDS for more than twenty years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte in 1977, and later moved to San Francisco, where he worked in architectural design, graphic design, mapmaking, and medical illustration. In 1991 he earned a Bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of San Francisco’s accelerated BSN program. In 1997 he earned a Master’s degree in nursing from Duke, and that same year helped start the Northern Outreach Clinic in Henderson, NC, where he continues to maintain a clinical practice with HIV/AIDS patients. He joined the school’s regular rank faculty in 2008 and earned a DNP from Duke University in 2012.

As a faculty member, he teaches in the Nurse Practitioner Program; he is Lead Faculty for the AGNP program and is the director of the HIV/AIDS concentration. Also at Duke, he has worked as a research assistant and coordinator for a number of clinical research projects, most recently with Dr. Julie Barroso and her HIV-related fatigue research. Dr. Harmon maintains certification as an Adult Nurse Practitioner through the American Nurses Credentialing Center, and as an HIV Specialist through the American Academy of HIV Medicine.

Academic Program Affiliations

Education

Professional Certifications

Research Interests

Clinical Interests

Les Harmon provides care for patients part time at an HIV outreach clinic in Henderson, NC, which he helped found along with other Duke nurse practitioners.

Awards and Honors

• 2014 JANAC Article of the Year Award, Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC)

• 2010 Inducted, Sigma Theta Tau International, Beta Epsilon Chapter

• 2008 Ten Year HIV/AIDS Service Award, Northern Outreach Clinic, Henderson, NC

• 2004 Anemia Case Study Award, Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC)

• 2004 Volunteer Award, North Carolina Governor's World AIDS Day

• 2001 Nurse Research Mentor Award, Duke Friends of Nursing

Areas of Expertise

• Acute / Critical Care
• Chronic Illness

Areas of Interest

• Medical Management of Adults with HIV/AIDS

Representative Publications

• 2015 -- Pubmed # 26061807 Caiola, C., McGee, K., Harmon, J. L. Reflections: A Case for Intersectional Approaches in HIV Research. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses. July, 2015; 31(7); 669-70

• 2015 -- Pubmed # 25701691 Barroso, J., Leserman, J., Harmon, J. L., Hammill, B., Pence, B. W. Fatigue in HIV-Infected People: A Three-Year Observational Study. J Pain Symptom Manage. July, 2015; 50(1); 69-79

• 2014 -- Pubmed # 23814175 Barroso, J., Harmon, J. L., Madison, J. L., Pence, B. W. Intensity, chronicity, circumstances, and consequences of HIV-related fatigue: a longitudinal study. Clin Nurs Res. October, 2014; 23(5); 514-28 PMCID: PMC3867537

• 2013 -- Pubmed # 23582578 Harmon, J. L., Collins-Ogle, M., Bartlett, J. A., Thompson, J., Barroso, J. Integrating Routine HIV Screening Into a Primary Care Setting in Rural North Carolina. J Assoc Nurses AIDS Care. January-February, 2014; 25(1); 70-82

• 2013 -- Rogalski, J. Serving the suffering - HIV/AIDS research and care. Duke Nursing Magazine. Winter, 2013; 9(1); 22-24

• 2011 -- Harmon, J. L., McAllaster, C. HIV/AIDS in the South: A Call to Action. November 22, 2011;

• 2011 -- Harmon, J. L. The next steps to take against AIDS [opinion/editorial] The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC). November 13, 2011;

• 2010 -- Pubmed # 20352317 Barroso, J., Hammill, B. G., Leserman, J., Salahuddin, N., Harmon, J. L., Pence, B. W. Physiological and psychosocial factors that predict HIV-related fatigue. AIDS Behav. March, 2010; 14(6); 1415-27 PMCID: PMC2975810

• 2009 -- Pubmed # 19281346 Pence, B. W., Barroso, J., Harmon, J. L., Leserman, J., Salahuddin, N., Hammill, B. G. Chronicity and remission of fatigue in patients with established HIV infection. AIDS Patient Care STDS. April, 2009; 23(4); 239-44 PMCID: PMC2856568

• 2009 -- Pubmed # 19118766 Salahuddin, N., Barroso, J., Leserman, J., Harmon, J. L., Pence, B. W. Daytime sleepiness, nighttime sleep quality, stressful life events, and HIV-related fatigue. J Assoc Nurses AIDS Care. March, 2009; 20(1); 6-13 PMCID: PMC2630408

• 2008 -- Pubmed # 18608079 Leserman, J., Barroso, J., Pence, B. W., Salahuddin, N., Harmon, J. L. Trauma, stressful life events and depression predict HIV-related fatigue. AIDS Care. November, 2008; 20(10); 1258-65

• 2008 -- Pubmed # 18608084 Pence, B. W., Barroso, J., Leserman, J., Harmon, J. L., Salahuddin, N. Measuring fatigue in people living with HIV/AIDS: psychometric characteristics of the HIV-related fatigue scale. AIDS Care. August, 2008; 20(7); 829-37

• 2008 -- Pubmed # 18328959 Harmon, J. L., Barroso, J., Pence, B. W., Leserman, J., Salahuddin, N. Demographic and illness-related variables associated with HIV-related fatigue. J Assoc Nurses AIDS Care. May, 2008; 19(2); 90-7 PMCID: PMC2287376

• 2008 -- Pubmed # 18184975 Barroso, J., Pence, B. W., Salahuddin, N., Harmon, J. L., Leserman, J. Physiological correlates of HIV-related fatigue. Clin Nurs Res. February, 2008; 17(1); 5-19 PMCID: PMC2426776

• 2000 -- Pubmed # 10772526 Markert, M. L., Hicks, C. B., Bartlett, J. A., Harmon, J. L., Hale, L. P., Greenberg, M. L., Ferrari, G., Ottinger, J., Boeck, A., Kloster, A. L., McLaughlin, T. M., Bleich, K. B., Ungerleider, R. M., Lyerly, H. K., Wilkinson, W. E., Rousseau, F. S., Heath-Chiozzi, M. E., Leonard, J. M., Haase, A. T., Shaw, G. M., Bucy, R. P., Douek, D. C., Koup, R. A., Haynes, B. F., Bolognesi, D. P., Weinhold, K. J. Effect of highly active antiretroviral therapy and thymic transplantation on immunoreconstitution in HIV infection. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses. March, 2000; 16(5); 403-13

Grant Funding (selected)

• HIV Nurse Practitioner Training Program  
  Health Resources and Service Administration
  1H4A-HA26219-01-00
  07/2013-06/2017
  Project goal: Development of an HIV/AIDS concentration for nurse practitioners in the MSN program.

• HIV-Related Fatigue Study  
  National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Nursing Research
  R01-NR008681
  01/2004-01/2009
  Role: Research Assistant
  Project Goal: To better understand fatigue in HIV-positive people and identify predictors of its occurrence and change, we propose to conduct a prospective, longitudinal study to address three aims: 1) to determine the level, circumstances, and consequences of fatigue in a group of community-dwelling HIV-positive individuals; 2) to determine at baseline the relationship of personal, HIV-related, physiological, psychosocial, and sleep quality variables to fatigue in HIV-positive individuals; and 3) to determine prospectively the relationship of personal and HIV-related variables, and changes in physiological, psychosocial, and sleep quality variables to chronicity of fatigue (percentage of visits fatigued, level of fatigue over time) in HIV-positive individuals.

• A Phase I Dose Escalation Trial to Evaluate the Safety, Pharmacokinetics, and Antiviral Activity of T-1249 in HIV-1 Infected Adults  
  Trimeris, Inc.
  T-1249-101
  02/2001-12/2001
  Role: Study Coordinator
  Project Goal: To evaluate the safety, pharmacokinetics and antiviral activity of T-1249.

• An Open Label Extension Study for Patients who have Participated in an Emivirine Protocol  
  Triangle Pharmaceuticals
  MKC-501
  01/2000-12/2001
  Role: Study Coordinator
  Project Goal: Evaluate the long term safety and efficacy of Emivirine.

• Phase I/II Study of ABT-378/Ritonavir in Combination with Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors in Antiretroviral-Naïve HIV-Infected Subjects  
  Abbott Pharmaceuticals
  M97-720
  10/1997-01/2005
  Role: Study Coordinator
  Project Goal: Evaluate the safety and efficacy of a new protease inhibitor.

• SPIRATS-C: A Pilot Study of the Impact of Combined Antiretroviral Therapy and Thymus Transplantation on Viral Dynamics and Immunologic Reconstruction in HIV Infected Patients  
  Abbott Pharmaceuticals
  07/1996-12/1997
  Role: Study Coordinator
  Project Goal: Analysis of the impact of combined antiretroviral therapy and thymus transplantation on the viral dynamics and the immunologic reconstruction in subjects with HIV-1 infection.